Download full text
(209.1Kb)
Citation Suggestion
Please use the following Persistent Identifier (PID) to cite this document:
https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-459708
Exports for your reference manager
Water as weapon: IS on the Euphrates and Tigris: the systematic instrumentalisation of water entails conflicting IS objectives
Wasser als Waffe: der IS an Euphrat und Tigris: die systematische Instrumentalisierung von Wasser birgt Zielkonflikte für den IS
[comment]
Corporate Editor
Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik -SWP- Deutsches Institut für Internationale Politik und Sicherheit
Abstract In the course of its territorial expansion, Islamic State (IS, ISIL or ISIS) has brought under its control strategically significant water resources and large parts of the water infrastructure in Syria and Iraq. It has seized several important dams on the Euphrates and Tigris as part of its expansio... view more
In the course of its territorial expansion, Islamic State (IS, ISIL or ISIS) has brought under its control strategically significant water resources and large parts of the water infrastructure in Syria and Iraq. It has seized several important dams on the Euphrates and Tigris as part of its expansion strategy and, particularly since 2014, has used water as a weapon in a number of ways. This practice has disastrous consequences, and it is virtually impossible for external actors to prevent it. And yet, even IS’s room for manoeuvre is limited since a functioning water and electricity supply in the areas that it has captured is of existential importance for the militia. However, the anti-IS coalition’s intensified military interventions since the Paris attacks put the militia under severe pressure. Should IS be forced into extensive withdrawals, then whole regions will be at risk of dramatic and wide-spread flooding. (author's abstract)... view less
Keywords
Syria; Iraq; civil war; natural resources; water; weapon; terrorism; military; strategy; fight against terrorism
Classification
Peace and Conflict Research, International Conflicts, Security Policy
Free Keywords
Islamischer Staat (IS)
Document language
English
Publication Year
2016
City
Berlin
Page/Pages
8 p.
Series
SWP Comment, 3/2016
ISSN
1861-1761
Status
Published Version; reviewed
Licence
Deposit Licence - No Redistribution, No Modifications